An exciting new business has officially opened its doors in Dorset.
Former sub-editor and reality star Victoria Boast is the owner of the all-new sìdà yoga studio in Lerret Road, Portland.
The forty-year-old never set out to teach yoga, it was a path that she fell into after her partner Paul Reiffer got a job in China and the pair ended up moving there.
She said: “I was not allowed to work over there so I ended up being a stay-at-home wife and found that I needed something to fill my day.
“I ended up finding a yoga studio down my road and took a class there. Because I was unable to work, I would live at the studio.”
Victoria has been teaching in Dorset since about 2015 when she moved away from China, explaining that ‘it has been her dream to open her own studio since she started teaching.'
She said: “I thought corporate was my path – something like law - it doesn’t feel like you’re working when it’s something you love.
“You’re providing more than just a class. One of the ladies told me it’s ‘the highlight of her week,’ and I wanted to create a space that I would also want to come to.”
Before she got the keys to her new studio in Victoria Building, the teacher was providing lessons at local gyms, halls and community spaces.
However, she wanted to give her students something special and fully equipped, with a ‘go big or go home’ mindset which is when her dream became a reality.
The studio was previously used for jujitsu training which meant that when Victoria was handed the keys on June 1, there was a lot of work to be done.
She explained that her partner and friends were part of the reason that the yoga studio came to exist. She also made a lot of items for the studio including the bench cushions.
Additionally, is a wall of paper cranes which were made by children at St George’s Primary School.
The yoga instructor also appeared on the 2009 series of the reality show, Shipwrecked, saying: 'You don’t know what the time is, and you have a lot of hours in the day to kill so I sat on the beach and did some yoga,' which is also partly to blame for her love of the practice.
For more information, visit: https://www.sidayoga.com/.
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